Three former Blueprints employees sue over firing
Three women have sued the nonprofit Blueprints for discrimination after they were fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Washington-based attorney John Egers filed the suit on their behalf in federal court on Tuesday. Suing are Jacqueline Allen of Donora, Emily DiPiazza of Charleroi, and Tanya Steinbrecher of Perryopolis.
The suit accuses Blueprints of denying the women’s requested exemptions from the mandatory vaccine policy based upon “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Blueprints is based in Washington and provides a variety of services to low-income residents in Washington and Greene counties and West Virginia. Among the services are Head Start and pre-k education programs, rental assistance, and inmate reentry programs.
According to the suit, in November 2021 the nonprofit put in place a mandate for its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face termination.
Religious exemption forms were made available to employees. Those seeking an exemption needed to answer several questions about their faith, including a “religious leader attestation” signed by a pastor from their place of worship.
The suit claims that 22 Blueprints employees applied for exemption, and six were granted. Just one was on the basis of religious beliefs, according to the lawsuit.
Allen, who was hired as an assistant teacher in 2014, objected to receiving vaccines that “have used aborted babies in any stage of the vaccine development,” the suit contends.
DiPiazza, hired in 2019 as a cook, and Steinbrecher both objected on the same grounds.
Neither Allen nor DiPiazza had a signed statement from their pastors. Steinbrecher, who was hired as a teacher in 2021, did have one from a pastor at Anchored Fellowship in Uniontown. All three women had their requests denied, and were subsequently fired on Jan. 4, 2022.
The three are asking the court to award back pay with interest, any losses from pension and/or retirement benefits, emotional distress damages, compensatory and punitive damages.
The plaintiffs in the case each filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shortly after. The EEOC passed those complaints on to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which found no grounds for the claims.
Blueprints did not return a phone call seeking comment prior to Friday’s deadline.